Groundspeak Weekly Newsletter – May 2, 2012

GPS Adventures Maze in Ohio

Test your geocaching knowledge and sense of adventure inside a life-size maze. Explore the twists and turns of the GPS Adventures Maze Exhibit starting this May in Ohio. You can navigate the fun, interactive museum exhibit at the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery in Dayton, Ohio May 25th through September 3rd. You will learn the inside story of GPS technology, unlock navigation history, and discover geocaching fun facts as you chart a course through the family-friendly maze. Those who log the maze even earn the unique GPS Adventures Maze Exhibit cache type icon.

Boonshoft Museum will host a meet and greet event for geocachers on May 25th from 10:30 am until noon. They’ll be joined by Groundspeak CEO Jeremy Irish. The opening event is the perfect time for those on their way to the GeoWoodstock Mega-Event to visit the maze, which is only 200 miles away!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GEOCACHING!

With the flip of a proverbial switch, the idea of geocaching flickered to life 12 years ago. On May 2, 2000, at an order from the U.S. President, Selective Availability (the intentional degradation of the GPS signal available to civilians) was turned off. Civilian GPS devices instantly became 10 times more accurate. The original geocache was placed one day later. It was hidden in the U.S. state of Oregon on May 3, 2000.

In the geocaching community, we refer to the demise of Selective Availability as the “flipping of the great blue switch.” Although there never was a literal switch, the results are undeniable. Geocaching spread around the globe. Now you can use Geocaching.com, or one of the Geocaching.com smartphone apps to embark on adventures to more than 1.7 million active geocaches hidden around the world. The geocaching community has ballooned from that original small group of GPS enthusiasts to more than five million people.